Laura Šakaja is a professor of cultural geography at the University of Zagreb. She graduated geography and biology at Abkhazian State University. As a post-graduate student she studied in Moscow State University “M.V. Lomonosov” where she received her degree (kandidat nauk) in the field of social and economic geography. She holds her PhD in geography from the University of Zagreb. Previously, she worked in the Institute of Culture of the Ministry of Culture and in the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies and was editor-in-chief of the journal Migracijske i etničke teme [Migration and Ethnic Research]. Her bibliography includes a book and about thirty scientific papers in the field of social and cultural geography. Her research interests include imaginative geographies, symbolic landscapes, urban toponymy and ethnic relations. Currently, she is working on urban daily environment and mental maps.